Wisdom from the Trenches

Cindy Brewer from Orphan Voice served in Vietnam for 14 years and Jayne Schooler from Trauma Free World co-authored, Caring for Kids from Hard Places, with her late husband.  

These two leaders with decades of experience deep in the trenches of loving and serving vulnerable children and families shared nuggets of wisdom at the Christian Alliance for Orphans in late September. 

Nuggets of Wisdom: 

• Secret of success: just show up. 

• Forgive yourself for what you didn’t know. 

• Be a lifetime learner. 

• Look at the long view. I can’t redo mistakes in the past, but I can end well. 

• Our time on earth is a privilege. The angels don’t have the opportunity to glorify God in trying times. 

How does this apply to camp and mentoring? If you’re like me, at one time or another, you’ve wondered the following: 

• Am I really making a difference?  

REMEMBER: Just show up. 

• I wish I’d handled that situation better with my camper or mentee.  

REMEMBER: Forgive yourself. Keep learning and growing. End well. 

• This is so much harder than I ever imagined. Maybe I should quit. 

REMEMBER: Our time on earth is a privilege. The angels don’t have the opportunity to glorify God in trying times. 

Prayer: 

Lord Jesus, we are weak, but you are strong. Help us to show up. Give us grace to forgive ourselves and keep learning and growing. Remind us that our time on earth is a privilege. The angels don’t have the opportunity to glorify you when we face trying times. Help us to end well. Amen and amen.